A theoretical model has been used, in conjunction with pressure drop and solid holdup data, to predict correctly the thermal efficiency of a countercurrent, gas–solid, packed heat exchanger. In the model, the ideal efficiency is multiplied by a ratio of particles in contact with the gas to the total amount of particles in the packed section. The Ergun equation is used to obtain both an effective packing porosity and the number of particles in contact with the gas. The results show that the model correctly gives the efficiency versus gas velocity curve for different packing heights and solids mass fluxes. The calculated and experimental velocities for which exchanger efficiency is a maximum are also in agreement.

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